Qantas accepts revised $8.7bn takeover bid

14th Dec 2006

Qantas Airways has accepted an increased takeover bid for the airline that values it at A$11.1 billion (US$8.71 billion).

The deal comes from a consortium called the Airline Partners Australia it is being led by Macquarie Bank and US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group, Qantas shareholders will get A$5.60 per share, up from an initial bid of A$5.50.

The new owners of Qantas have pledged not to break up the carrier as it delists from the Australian stock exchange after 11 years as a public company.

Media reports suggest that some people are uneasy about the buyout, fearing job losses, a cut in regional services, price hikes or a move of maintenance operations offshore.

The airline’s chief executive Geoff Dixon told the Australian Associated Press it would be “business as usual”

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“I can’t see why Qantas going from being publicly owned to being privately owned will have any impact on fares.

“Fares are - in this industry as in any others - a reflection of competition, and I think we have more than 40 airlines coming into this country on any given day, so I think there’s plenty of competition.”

Although Dixon refused to bow to a union call for the new owners to guarantee existing jobs and entitlements of Qantas workers.

Australian Prime Minister, John Howard told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio: “I hope that the Qantas we know is the Qantas we keep. People like Qantas. It is an icon. That doesn’t mean to say its shares can’t change hands.”